


Yesterday

by thesmokeandflame



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Muggle, Alternate Universe - Non-Magical, Angst, Fluff, M/M, Modern Era, Slow Burn, wolfstar
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-06
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-12 01:47:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29252475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesmokeandflame/pseuds/thesmokeandflame
Summary: Non-magical AU - wolfstar and marauders era.Sirius Black, a transfer, joins Hogwarts, a public boarding school in the UK, from Beauxbatons, and quickly befriends James Potter. Remus Lupin can’t take his eyes off him.Begins in their Sixth year.
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 6
Kudos: 13





	Yesterday

Chapter One: September Sunday

YESTERDAY

stance= registration. legally has to be done 3 times a day.  
Salinger= author of Catcher in the Rye  
common room= a massive room where stance happens. usually also a massive tv in there where people watch films on weekends. sometimes people do prep (homework) at the big table in there.  
chapel= kinda like church but it’s a massive building and overly fancy tbh

Remus forced open the second drawer under his bed, desperately rummaging through the mess in search of his tie. No luck. He stood up, tugging on the ends of his hair, trying to picture the last place he had seen it. This was the problem with James tidying his room every time he came in- the actual owner of the room could never find anything afterwards.  
“Fuck, fuck, fuck.” He swore under his breath, trying to imagine where James would have put it. He was so late for stance. Blame Salinger and his writing- it was hardly Remus’ fault that the writing was so engaging it was simply impossible to put down before he physically couldn’t keep his eyes open. And who was to blame him if that had left him with just three hours sleep?  
After having another lightning speed look through the drawer of doom, he finally located the gold-and-red thing in his wardrobe, hanging neatly around a hanger. Grabbing his tie and the door with each hand, he ran along the corridor and down the two flights of stairs to get to the common room, knotting his tie as he went. After a grimace at Dr Flamel, the ancient teacher who had been at Hogwarts as long as anyone could remember, he flopped onto the floor in the Sixth year area. That was the worst part of being late for stance; any space on the two sofas designated for their year was long gone.  
“Alright, Moony?” James reached over and ruffled Remus’ hair, no doubt making even more of a mess of it. “Don’t tell me you were up reading again last night?” Remus twisted around and grinned at James, telling him everything he needed to know.  
“Still don’t get it.” Peter Pettigrew sighed; Remus knew sleep was the most important thing to Peter- the thought of reading over a decent night’s rest was absolutely unthinkable.  
A shove in the ribs from Peter had him facing the middle of the room again, where Flamel was reading off the day’s announcements. “We need four volunteers for house badminton today- any takers?” What felt like every pair of eyes in the room turned towards the Sixth years’ section of the room, lighting a grin from James.  
“Well, I suppose, Peter, Lupin and I could volunteer.” Remus smiled a little; it was practically a tradition for the three to volunteer for any house activity that was on a Sunday, with an unlucky fourth soul being peer-pressured into representing Gryffindor Boys with them (this honour usually fell to whichever unlucky First year had been caught out of bed the night before).  
“Wonderful!” Flamel wrote their names down with a flourish. “And it’ll be Gideon Prewett as the fourth.” An audible sigh was given from the opposite side of the room; it was true, Remus thought, that it always somehow managed to be Gid who was blamed for being out of bed. Truthfully, most of the teachers couldn’t tell him and his identical brother apart, so the blame rested on the cheekier Gideon.  
“At least he’s sporty.” James murmured from behind Remus, his mildly annoyed tone obvious to his friend of six years. It wasn’t that James didn’t like the Prewett twins, just that their pranks rivalled even his own from first year. James was one of the most competitive people Remus knew when it came to his reputation as a prankster.  
Chatter broke out across the room suddenly, and Remus realised Flamel must have finished his announcements and told them to get a move on to chapel. James, ever eager to attend the compulsary Sunday service (for reasons Remus simply couldn’t fathom), jumped off his seat and offered a hand to Remus, heaving him off the floor.  
“Blimey, mate, you’re heavier than you look, y’know?” Remus grinned at James.  
“All in the ridiculous amounts of Pop Tarts he eats.” Peter huffed, yawning his way over to the others as they walked out the common room, jumped the steps, and left the house into the September weather outside.  
“Don’t forget the chocolate too, Pete.” James grinned.  
Remus would kill for one of those Pop Tarts right now. Specifically the strawberry ones with the rainbow sprinkles on top. His addiction to them was a bit of a nightmare- they had to be ordered online, and he tended to bulk buy them to save a bit of money. Even after six years, James continued to laugh at the box of sixty Remus had to order almost monthly, the box practically half Peter’s height. The American-ness of his addiction was balanced by his very English addiction to tea, yet another thing that was an endless amusement to James (“could you be any more of a stereotype? Seriously, Lupin?”).  
“Leave me alone.” Remus scowled at the sun, far too bright for the time of day.  
“Aww, we’re only teasing, Moony. Not that time of the month, is it?” They were nearing the chapel now, Peter’s comment nearly swallowed up by the bustle of the crowd and the ridiculously loud organ from the imposing building.  
“Ah, I love Sunday chapel.” James had a soft smile on his face, his eyes on the columns in front of them. He linked his arms with Peter and Remus and marched them forward, earning a scoff from Remus.  
“I still fail to understand why you enjoy being forced to put your uniform on and be out of bed at 9 o’clock on a Sunday morning.” Remus’ comment earned a narrowing of the eyes and haughty look from James.  
“Nothing beats a good sing first thing in the morning, Lupin. Absolutely nothing.”  
“You sure it’s not because we get to sit with the Gryffindor girls? Not because you might catch sight of a certain redhead that is still most definitely not interested in you?”  
“It’s a match made in heaven, Moony. She’ll see it this year, I know it.”  
“Mmhm. You said that last year. And the year before that. And the year before that.”  
“Leave off it, Pete. You’ve just gotta trust me. This is our year.” James had a dreamy sort of look on his face. It was all Remus could do not to laugh outright.  
Joining the rest of Gryffindor, the three took their seats towards the back, James’ whole face alight. Remus slumped in his seat at the end of the row, subtly scanning the seats on the other side of the aisle. The organ stopped and restarted into a rendition of ‘Tell out my Soul’ as the school stood, the head of the school sweeping down the centre of the aisle in ridiculous silver robes. As Remus tracked his least favourite teacher, his eyes caught another’s. The boy sent a half smile his way, his yellow and black tie hanging untied around his collar. Remus let out a long breath as they sat, running a hand through his hair. His phone lit up a few seconds later, a text having come through.  
_Meet me later. The bench_.  
Remus looked up at the teacher’s seats at the side, glad to see the teachers for once seemed to be paying attention to Dumbledore’s rambling.  
_So demanding, Alex._  
Remus looked up, trying to catch the Hufflepuff boy’s attention. He, however, appeared to have his full attention on the notices being given. Remus never knew how he was such a subtle texter.  
_You love it :))_  
He sighed again, James glancing over and pretended to be disapproving of Remus’ inattentiveness. He raised his eyebrows- you okay? Remus gave a small nod in return and, satisfied, James turned back to the front.  
Remus hated it when Alex said things like that. It made their whole no-strings arrangement even harder. Remus was more relaxed around him than he’d hoped. Their relationship- if you could call it that- had been so much easier when they had barely known each other, when they were just two Fifth years who had accepted their identities to at least some degree. Even if it absolutely had to stay between the two of them.  
_You’re not meeting Liv today???_ Remus watched Alex to see his reaction, but as usual, he remained unreadable to him.  
_Not until later. Her parents are taking us out so we have to be done by 12._  
As usual. Time limits. A reminder that for Alex, his arrangement with Remus was an absolute secret. An absolute secret that was never going to last, that would always have time limits and restrictions imposed.  
_Ok._  
Remus winced, hoping the feelings of jealousy weren’t noticeable through the text. Short, snappy- not even the full okay he tended to use.  
_:)_  
Alex didn’t notice anything was off. Of course he didn’t.  
As the school stood again to the tune of Jerusalem, as was expected on the first Sunday service of the term, Remus tucked his phone into his pocket. Something to think on later, when he wasn’t surrounded by a) his closest friends b) his teachers and c) the whole school.  
As they walked through the crowd outside, Pete and James chatting as usual, Remus caught sight of McGonagall and Dumbledore having what looked like a heated discussion. Remus turned to point it out to the other two, surprised to see his usually unobservant friends already looking. They weren’t the only ones.  
McGonagall looked up to see them and waved them over. They paused, looking at each other.  
“What the fuck did you do this time, Potter?” Remus half teased, trying to make light of the situation. James shook his head, not even managing to dredge up a smile. “Pete?” The shorter boy shrugged, looking nervous. Unlike James, he hated any sort of attention, especially the bad kind.  
Waking over to the two teachers, the sense of apprehension grew. What the hell could they want? None of them had been in any serious sort of trouble since their first year.  
“Potter. Pettigrew. Lupin.” McGonagall gave a strained smile. “We have a new student arriving today to Gryffindor.”  
Pete and James glanced at each other. Remus could tell what thoughts they shared in that look; his were the same. A new student, just over a week into the year? Nobody new joined the school unless they were a First year, when they all joined. To have someone new join just a week into a new school year as well? Even stranger.  
It was James who found his voice first, ever the leader if the group. “Oh, that’s- um- that’s great…” He trailed off, clearly just as stumped as Remus.  
“He is a transfer from Beauxbatons. We expect you three will help him to adjust to life here.” Remus’ eyes widened- not only was Dumbledore right in front of him, he was now addressing them. Remus nodded slowly, absorbing the information. With nothing more than a look at the three of them, Dumbledore turned on his heel and left, perhaps now aware of the stares people were giving the five assembled.  
“Right, you three, that should be all. He’ll be arriving this evening, we hope, in time for lessons tomorrow.” The three blinked, a hesitant smile on James’ face. He was always the best at talking to new people.  
McGonagall smiled tightly and turned away.  
“Professor, wait!” It was Peter, clearly having a desperate question. “I was just- well- what’s his name?”  
McGonagall’s smile became almost painfully tight, and she seemed hesitant to tell them. Stepping a few paces closer, she murmured in a low voice, “Sirius Black.”


End file.
